Inside the colleges

Leuven Travel Blog

I thought I knew central Leuven fairly well. I must have walked up every street multiple times. Yet I had no idea of the hidden delights that were within the colleges. On the weekends they are so quite and the private entries make it feel like trespassing, but they are all public property and people are welcome to explore. Walking through the gates of Paus Adriaan VI-college, I was honestly surprised at the beautiful courtyard that opened up in front of me, hidden all this time behind the bland brick walls that surround it. A pair of modern stylistic lions go surprisingly well with the old buildings that surround the courtyard, and pushing through the building you arrive at an interesting statue of Pieter de Somer, the first lay rector of the university. Van Dalecollege hides a small forest seeded with wildflowers and Atrechtcollege has a functional Chinese astrolobe to track the stars above Beijing. What do the other colleges hide?

The Pope's College is also an excellent shortcut between the Hogeschoolplein and the Tiensestraat. Other university buildings make for great shortcuts as well, such as The law faculty (De Valk, the big gate in Tiensestraat) which makes a handy shortcut between Tiensestraat and Ladeuzeplein. Or the faculty of Social Sciences which connects the Vesaliusstraat with the City park and other streets.
Have you been inside the Zooological institute? (naamsestraat) That's pretty fun as well, with lot's of stuffed animals and whale skelletons etc.
Another place worth a look is the "Higher institute for Philosophy" on tiensestraat, which has a very nice atmosphere with lot's of ivy-filled houses. It houses the original 30,000 pages work of Edmund Husserl, if you're into Philosophy. Those are all within the center. Outside of the city you could check out the beautiful Arenberg library, inside a monestary-turned-library, and of course the Arenberg castle, which is also part of the university.